| dc.description.abstract | Today, Micro and small enterprises around the world are paying more attention to
innovation. The benefits of innovation according to a study conducted in Pakistan by
(Hafeez, 2013), include increasing Profit/Margins increase, Product diversification and
differentiation, to meet and exceed needs, securing a market strategic position, to make
use of new business opportunities, create a brand, improve product quality, create new
markets, maintain market share, meet government regulations, standards and legislation,
lower production costs, improve working environment, improve product flexibility,
reduce environment damage, replace products being faced out. The general Objective of
the study was to investigate Innovation and performance of MSEs in Kiambu Town
especially to determine extent of innovation among the MSEs, establish the benefits of
innovation to the MSEs, determine the challenges of adopting innovation in MSEs and to
establish the relationship between innovation and performance of the MSEs. The study
used descriptive research design to relationship between innovation and performance of
MSEs in Kiambu Town. The target population of this study comprised of the Licensed
MSEs in Kiambu Town. The town was targeted because of the variety of MSEs operating
there, from Wholesalers to informal sector to transport, agriculture, hospitality, technical
services, private education and health, and manufactures. A questionnaire with open
ended and closed ended questions was developed by the researcher and used in data
collection. The study found and concluded that Process, Product, Positioning and
Paradigm types of innovation had a positive relationship with the performance of some
business types of the Micro and Small Enterprises in Kiambu Town. It was recommended
that embracing innovation after research on which suits which Micro and Small
enterprise best. The study further proposed several considerations: Having mechanisms to
implement tax incentives, involving key stakeholders in the business types and academia
in R&D, develop policies to encourage innovation listed in this study, identify and
reward innovative MSEs to promote innovation, initiate programs that tap innovators,
and encourage Banks and other stakeholders to fund more viable innovative ideas | en_US |
